The truly scary thing about undiscovered lies is that they have a greater capacity to diminish us than exposed ones. They erode our strength, our self-esteem, our very foundation. -Cheryl Hughes
Thaw
- What Christmas service are you/your family planning to go to?
- What traditions does your family have this time of year?
- What most stayed with you from Sunday morning?
Read
- Proverbs 12:19
- Thoughts?
Read
- Genesis 3:1-13
- Thoughts?
Discuss
- How do you see deception playing out once fear is part of the Genesis narrative, and how do we make parallels to our own lives from the text?
- What significance does this story hold for you when you realize that the "Fall of Humanity" is rooted not in immorality but in fear, covering up and hiding?
Quote
- Respond as a group to this:
"Lying is creation from scarcity, rather than enough- danger rather than peace."Discuss
- What's a lie you perpetuated earlier in life and in what ways was it tied to either a fear of scarcity or of threat?
Leader note: You may want to drill down on this idea by studying Peter, who denied knowing Christ to save his own skin in John 18, and was confronted by Paul for his hypocrisy in Galatians 2. In both cases, Peter was dishonest because there was something at stake. He felt something threatened. His fears for his life and/or his reputation dictated his integrity.
- What have you learned about your capacity for dishonesty?
- How have you become less fearful and more at peace?
Apply
- To get from a dishonest place to a place of integrity and honesty, we must be willing to pass through a very uncomfortable place of suffering the truth. In what ways can this group help the individuals and couples of this LifeGroup to travel through a time of confessing both lies, and the fears that occasion them, to get to the other side where integration and trust and reality can thrive?
- How might shedding fears until dishonesty is no longer necessary, rather than trying to "be more honest" be the exclusive work and opportunity of Christ-followers?
When a man is penalized for honesty he learns to lie.
-Criss Jami, Salomé: In Every Inch In Every Mile
